Cool School Challenger

Cool news for cool schools

Fall 2008 Edition
Welcome to the Fall edition of the Cool School Challenger, a quarterly update on the Cool School Challenge program. Last year nearly 100 teachers from throughout western Washington attended one of our teacher workshops, resulting in more than 20 pledges from schools committed to reducing their carbon footprint. At the close of the school year, participating schools reported nearly 500,000 lbs in potential greenhouse gas reductions, and more importantly ~ they engaged their students, faculty and staff in real solutions to climate pollution. We think that’s pretty cool. So here's what's new with the program this year:

In this issue:

• New & improved program materials
• Upcoming Workshops
• Penny for your thoughtsTeacher feedback requested
• Bring Powerful Choices to your middle school classroom
• Free education programs for your classroom
• Calendar Check here for upcoming events
• Cool tips for fall
• Climate change educator grants available

New & improved program materials The Cool School Challenge team has been busy over the summer ~ improving and creating program materials and tools based on suggestions from many of you Challenge ‘pioneers.’ These materials will be posted online on September 22nd.

A key addition is a new ‘carbon calculator.’ We heard from many of you that the math component of the Classroom Survey was “tedious,” “time-consuming” and “difficult for lower levels.” So to help streamline the process and keep Student Challenge Leaders more engaged, we’ve developed an Excel spreadsheet for inputting classroom data collected during the Survey. We hope you will find this colorful interactive tool a useful addition to the program! Thanks to all of you who provided us with feedback to help make this great program even stronger!

Attention teachers | Learn about the Challenge at one of our Fall workshops Interested in getting the Cool School Challenge up and running at your school? We’re organizing several teacher workshops this fall to show you how the program works ~ and how you can make it work for you. The workshops are free to attend and will offer clock hours. Currently scheduled workshops:

• October 11, 2008 | 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. Location: Bellingham
• October 25, 2008 | 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Location: Wild Horse Renewable Energy Farm, Ellensburg. This extended workshop format is intended to provide teachers with a solid foundation of subject matter so the Challenge can be implemented with more context. In addition to our standard training on how to implement the Challenge, this workshop will provide additional information through subject-matter experts, discussions, and a tour of the wind farm.

For more information about the workshops, please email: info@coolschoolchallenge.org .

Penny for your thoughts Because we want the Cool School Challenge to be as valuable a tool as possible, we are eager to hear about your experiences with the program and materials. To help us continually improve, Puget Sound Energy is once again offering a stipend to teachers who complete the Challenge and share their feedback. Here’s how it works:

• Teachers who attend one of our Cool School Challenge workshops, implement the Challenge at their school, and complete a brief online evaluation can receive $300.
• Teachers who do not attend a workshop, but still implement the Challenge and complete the online evaluation can receive $200.
• The fine print: Eligibility is limited to teachers who teach at a school within Puget Sound Energy’s service territory.

For more information, email us at: info@coolschoolchallenge.org

Bring Powerful Choices to your middle school classroom Powerful Choices for the Environment is a free environmental education program that inspires middle school students to think about how their everyday choices do make a difference. Environmental education professionals, trained in science education and local resource use, deliver this hands-on, four-day program in middle school classrooms in Puget Sound Energy's service area. The curriculum focuses on air quality, land resources, water conservation, and electricity use and is aligned with the Washington Essential Academic Learning Requirements. Powerful Choices visits 13,000 students a year at 55 local schools and is sponsored by Puget Sound Energy and 20 local partnering agencies. Powerful Choices is a great complement to the Cool School Challenge. Visit Powerful Choices for the Environment for more information.

Free education programs for your classroom Compliments of the Northwest Clean Air Agency, the following hands-on, multimedia presentations are available to any school, public or private, in Whatcom, Island and Skagit Counties:

• Global Warming - You Make the Difference: Global climate change is a complex problem, but the solutions are simple. Presenters will help students understand the greenhouse effect and how human contributions affect climate change. Students play a unique board game that keeps them entertained and engaged while helping them understand that, by making certain choices, they can play an active role in solutions to global warming. Designed for grades 5-7, this program can stand-alone or act as a great supplement for a unit on weather, climate or the environment.
• Breathe Easy: With the help of such activities as an interactive story, an entertaining video, role-playing and some cool science demonstrations, students in grades K – 7 understand what air pollution is, what makes air pollution and how their individual choices affect air quality.

For each topic, students receive information to take home to their families, and the teacher receives follow-up activities. To sign up, or for more information, contact Katie Fleming at schools@re-sources.org or call 360-733-8307.

Cool tips for the fall It’s just about time to think about how you can be cool and help reverse climate change while keeping warm this fall.

• Weatherize your doors and windows. Heating systems emit more carbon dioxide into the air than anything else in your home. If you weatherize your windows and doors, your heating system won’t have to work as hard and you’ll save up to 564 pounds of carbon dioxide and $70 a year.
• Turn down the heat. Be aware of your home thermostat setting and help keep the planet’s temperature in check. Set your thermostat back 10-15 degrees when you are out of the house or sleeping and you’ll save 663 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
• Install a programmable thermostat. Wake up to a warm house and save energy. They generally pay for themselves within a year and save 660 pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted annually.
• Go to www.ImCool.info for more cool tips that will help you go retro with your carbon dioxide output.

Climate change educator grants available Earth Day Network, through The Campus Climate Challenge, is working with schools to win global warming victories nationwide. Members of EDN's Educators Network are eligible to receive stipends of $500 for their work to help schools reach a global warming victory. Applications due September 26.

About the Cool School Challenge The Cool School Challenge is a web-based climate education program designed to engage students and teachers in practical strategies to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions schoolwide. The program was developed by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency in partnership with Puget Sound Energy and the Northwest Clean Air Agency.